Indigenous Peoples Organizations (IPO)

ELEMENT DESCRIPTION The objectives of IPOs are to: • Promote full recognition of the rights and territories of indigenous and tribal peoples • Promote the development of indigenous and tribal peoples and their participation in decision and policy making • Establish effective networks between indigenous peoples at regional and international levels • Exchange information and experiences to empower Alliance members to advocate for the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, enabling them to impact upon processes falling within the complex UN system, and the policies and decision-making of developmental agencies and multi-lateral development banks • Promote worldwide solidarity between indigenous and tribal peoples. There are several organizations that have widely recognized credentials to act as an intermediary or representative on behalf of indigenous peoples' groups, in negotiations on indigenous issues with governments and international organizations.These include:•African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) •Center for World Indigenous Studies •Cultural Survival •Friends of Peoples Close to Nature (fPcN) •Incomidios Switzerland •Indigenous Dialogues •Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC) •International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) •Movement in the Amazon for Tribal Subsistence and Economic Sustainability •Survival International •Society for Threatened Peoples International (STP) STAKEHOLDER DESCRIPTION • Stakeholders of Indigenous Peoples Organizations include indigenous peoples from such areas as: Central America, South America, West Africa, East Africa, South Asia, South-East Asia, Bahasa, and the Pacific. • Indigenous peoples can be used to describe any ethnic group of people who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest known historical connection, alongside more recent immigrants who have populated the region and may be greater in number.• Stakeholders may also be people who are not of Indigenous descent but feel that the rights of the Indigenous people are a top priority to mankind.KEY ISSUES • Indigenous peoples are increasingly faced with threats to their sovereignty, environment, and access to natural resources.• Indigenous peoples around the world have sought recognition of their identities, their ways of life and their right to natural resources, traditional lands, and territories. • The issue of neglected Indigenous input in politics is in the process of slow reversal.An example of this is the UN Permanent Forum of Indigenous Peoples which was proposed in the late 1980’s and ultimately implemented in 2002.• Although in past years indigenous groups have gained more recognition though the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (adopted by the assembly on September 13, 2007), they are still looking for a higher degree of active participation in political affairs concerning their land and people.